The point of this post is just in case there may be a few mistakes. If you happen to notice anything you think is wrong, post an answer here and I will look into it. Answers will be hidden once corrections have been made (or rejected). Thanks to everyone who's contributed so far!

Update 10/10/2017: I finally got around to updating the origins for Gen 7 Pokemon on the site. Huge thanks to everyone who contributed!

I wanted to address a huge flaw in the origins of ponyta that no site seems to have gotten.
I'm fairly certain while ponytail does seem fitting that it's name is actually derived from the animal pony and then a corruption of the word niter(nyta) which is a flammable material used in gunpowder for instance

22 Answers

9 votes

I'm sorry if some of these have already been mentioned, but they aren't on this page at the moment.Typhlosion
You have it as a combination of Typhoon and Explosion.
Since a Typhoon is a watery thing, wouldn't it make more sense for that part of its name to come from one of the following Greek words:

Typhus which means 'hazy' - kind of like the shimmer you can see around something that is extremely hot - just read its pokemon Ruby dex entry for why I think this is the most likely one
>TYPHLOSION obscures itself behind a shimmering heat haze that it creates using its intensely hot flames. This POKéMON creates blazing explosive blasts that burn everything to cinders.

Tefra means ash, or volcanic meterial. Typhlosion is the Volcano pokemon after all.

Thumos means smoke. That is pretty self explanatory.

Ok, the ancient Greek lesson is over. Its just always annoyed me that Typhlosion apparently got its name from Typhoon so I did some digging. Personally, I think the top one is the most likely, but you might completely disagree with all of this anyway, but I just thought I'd mention it.

Sylveon
It seems to me that sylph is a likely root word for its name. A sylph is an air elemental, or a fairy, and Sylveon was the first Fairy type revealed (even if we didn't know it at the time).

Inkay
Well, the Ink part is fairy obvious, but I have 2 suggestions for the -ay ending.

Spray - as in to spray ink

Okay or M'kay - for this one you kind of need to go to its Japanese name. Bulbapedia suggests its japanese name involves a pun that translates to something like "oh well" or "well, whatever" (Bulbapedia page here) Its name does sound very similar to "M'kay", though. This is purely speculation of course, but it is an idea.

PikachuPikapika is actually japanese onamatapeia (or however you spell it) for 'sparkle', much like chuchu is japanese onamatapeia for 'squeak'. I think this is more likely than coming from the Pika, because Pikachu doesn't look anything like a pika.

Oddish
I will start this one by saying I agree with both Odd and Radish as root (no pun intended) words. However, I also feel that there is a pun in Oddish's name as well. The -ish suffix is often used to mean "somewhat" or "sort of" so 'Oddish' = 'Sort of Odd' which makes sense considering it's basically a flower pot with legs.

Articuno
I think this one is just a spelling mistake. It says it comes from artic. Shouldn't it say arctic instead?

Solosis
You do say -osis is a common biological suffix. However, it come from either meiosis or mitosis, which are different kinds of cell division, so you could probably specify that.

The Nido's
I mean all of them - Nidoking, Nidorina, etc. The thing about pokemon names is that they are often quite clever, so while Nido may well refer to the pair (as you have on their pages) another possibility is it comes from Cnidocyte (pronounced nee-doh-site). Cnidocytes are a kind of cell found in many poisonous animals, like Jellyfish, Sea Anemones, etc. They are the stinging cells
that are covered in many poison-covered spikes that jab into their target. It seems likely to me that this is another possible origin for Nidoking's (etc.) names.

Just saying.... For your pikachu error, the fact that a pika looks nothing like pikachu doesn't really mean anything. A pika is still a small rodent, like pikachu(tiny mouse pokemon). Lucaio doesn't really resemble a hunk of magic metal, bellosom doesn't look muck like a bell, and (in my opinion) beldum doesn't make such a good dumbell. So..... Yeah. I don't think there's anything wrong with PIKAchu. (Though pikapika could be a 3rd part to it as well)

On Typhlosion, it's drawn directly from his Japanese, Bakuphun, which definitely is drawn from Explode+Typhoon given the two Japanese roots. With his English name, it's more debatable, but I always considered Typhoon (which, while it is known for rain, is still a destructive wind storm that triggers rain, but is not itself rain) to be the closer one just from his original root.

The "pikapika" for Pikachu is actually correct. First of all, "pika" is pronounced differently (with a long i instead of short). Second of all, pikas are not called pikas in Japanese (might I add that Pikachu is his original Japanese name). Most importantly, Tajiri himself actually said that that's where the name came from (the Japanese onomatopoeia for sparkling).

Also, I'm not sue about Flabébé's source for Flabra. Bébé is OK, but I checked Translate for Flabra in French, it is still Flabra in English, and I tried to check from the Galilean but it is still stuck on Flabra, which mean Flabra cannot be translated. It may be wrong, I ain't sure.

Lombre's name origin says it comes from Lotus and Sombrero. I was thinking it could also come from the Spanish word for "man" which is Hombre (pronounced sort of like ohm'-breh) which rhymes with how I say Lombre at least. And Lombre does look kinda like a stereotypical Mexican dude with the sombrero and all. (I've been taking Spanish class recently which is why I thought of it.)
Also with Servine, it says the origin is serpent and vine. But I had another thought. The next evolution after Servine is Serperior, the regal pokemon. Servine is a lot like the word Servile which relates to slavery, or servitude, and I think that could be a part of the name origin. I feel it would be a logical evolution; the humble servant, to the regal ruler, or leader.

Another possible origin for Genesect is Genesis, which means 'beginning' and Genesect, according to the BW2 Pokedex, "existed 300 million years ago."

EDIT: I believe Pyroar's name comes also from 'Pyro', "A person who has a compulsion to set fires; a pyromaniac."

Dragonite may also come from Dynamite, which kinda makes sense (though it's a bit of a stretch), as Dragonite is very powerful and can be very destructive.

Also, "Flabra" comes up as "blast" on Google Translate. While that could refer to a blast of wind, a blast is spontaneous and rough, ending a quickly as it began, and a breeze is soft and gentle, often continuing for a long time. And so, I do not believe that is the "Fla" in "Flabebe." Perhaps "Flower" is the "Fl" at least, and this would make sense, as Flabebe are found holding flowers.

A Bold word means I think I'm right; an italicized word means it's just a theory of mine. From most confident to least confident:

Politoed: you should probably include poly, meaning many, and toed (many-toed), or having many toes. This is because the transformation from a pollywog into a toad involves it growing toes, just like is does in the evolution.

Carracosta: tirtouga is based on the Spanish word tortuga, yet for carracosta it says it comes from Latin. The word costa means the same thing in both languages, so it is more likely that they were based off of the same Spanish language.

Whimsicott: It says whimsy, but it should be whimsical in my opinion. They mean the exact same thing, but whimsical fits the name better.

Litleo: The lit- part of the name could be based upon having a lit fire.

Deerling: It could be based off of darling as well as the other two deer and -ling.

Vivillon: It's probably vivify, but I think it comes from vivid since it has vivid colors. It could be one or the other, really.

Lampent: For some reason, whenever I think of this, I think of lament. I don't even think it's right, but that's what I have. Cheers!

Wigglytuff's origin is not Tough, it's Tuft. Seriously, it does have a tuft sitting atop her head.

The Golems could be named after Reggie, who created them.
The "eus" in Arceus could be Zeus, who is the king of all Greek gods and goddesses. Arceus is -- surprise surprise -- a god.

Chesnaught could be Juggernaught, which can either mean
A) Extreme power
B) A really strong dude.
Sure, use has really taken a blow ever since the start of the twentieth century and is at an all-time low ever since 2010, but just because not many people use the word means it couldn't be possible.

Gengar
Gengar's current entry is just doppelgänger, which is usually a shadow or ghost that resembles a person. While this fits with Gengar's Pokédex entries, Gengar's name is likely also derived from gjenganger, a type of ghost from Scandinavian mythology.

Zygarde I think you are missing one part of "Zygarde". It should be zygote, (a diploid cell resulting from the fusion of two haploid gametes; a fertilized ovum, considering the fact there's 2 Zygarde cores in XYZ, but that's far from canon and I may be using the wording wrong, I don't know. I just copied and pasted this.) Z, and garde.

As a native Japanese speaker (who played the first two games in Japanese), I feel compelled to point out the following:

Pikachu
"Pika" is from pikapika, the Japanese onomatopoeia for sparkling (like electric sparks). This one was actually confirmed by Tajiri himself. The "chu" part is correct (although specifically, it's the sound a mouse makes).

Nidos
It is often thought that the "nido" comes from Cnidocyte (which anybody who's taken Bio 2 should know). "Ran" in Japanese can mean "orchard." I also feel the "rhino" thing is a little dubious, as in Japan the word for rhinoceros is sai. But then again, I don't have a better alternative so who knows.

Golduck
I just want to point out that the "gold" thing may be because psychic stuff in Pokemon is often symbolized with gold, like the Gold Badge (Japanese Marsh Badge).

Gyarados
Almost definitely not "gyre" (Gyarados is his original Japanese name). May be from gyakusatsu (mass slaughter), and dosu (onomatopoeia for puncturing, probably flesh in this case).

Lapras
While he is based off the Loch Ness monster, the name is probably from either lapis lazuli or Laplace.

Mew/Mewtwo
Doubtful it's from the cat noise, as "mew" is not an onomatopoeia for cats in Japan. Possibly from mutant.

Regarding Cranidos and Rampardos
I don't think very many dinosaurs' scientific names end with "-dos". It's probably just a random, unexplained syllable, or it could be from "dosu" which apparently is the onomatopoeia for puncturing flesh in Japanese. The puncturing in Japanese explanation works nicely for Ariados.

Geodude
Probably from 'geode', which is a much closer-looking word, and Geodude looks slightly like a geode (a cluster of minerals).

Jynx
Also from 'Lynx' (a snow animal), hence the ice type

I think your Cloyster reasoning is a little off: 'cloister' is not just a noun but a verb meaning to seal oneself away, which seems more relevant than a religious building. (Note the verb is derived from the noun anyway)

Exeggcutor
Also a little off. An executor is not an exterminator! It is a person who carries out a will, or more generally brings something about. You are thinking of the word 'executioner'.
Exeggcutor might be 'executor' because it has legs now, so can go do things, or because it's a psychic type, so has a role in future events... a bit of a stretch, but so is the word 'executioner'

First, the "tyrannosaurus" in Tyranitar's name origin needs to be capitalized because it's a scientific name. Second, Golbat more likely comes from gollop (to eat greedily, as Golbat greedily sucks blood) than ghoul.

After years with no activity on my suggestion, I was surprised to get an update from here, but I digress.

Anyways, I suggested that "acrobat" be Crobat's name origin, but it was dismissed because all other names in other languages reference its cross shape. While that is a fair point, I still believe it's highly likely they used that opportunity to make a clever pun out of Crobat's name, with it being "acrobat" minus the "a", with Crobat being known for it's agility, like an acrobat, while it may also be combining "cross" and "bat" to reference the shape.

Coincidence while making a boorish word combination? Or clever intentional pun? I'd like to think the Pokemon name creators did the latter, and that the acrobat explanation is worth adding on to the etymology post.
Thank you.